Video: Elkind's Theory of Adolescent Egocentrism

Parents of teenagers often complain that their kids are self-centered. In this lesson, we'll examine psychologist David Elkind's theory of adolescent egocentrism, including what it is and how it impacts the way teenagers think.

Natalie is a teacher and holds an MA in English Education and is in progress on her PhD in psychology.

Parents of teenagers often complain that their kids are self-centered. In this lesson, we'll examine psychologist David Elkind's theory of adolescent egocentrism, including what it is and how it impacts the way teenagers think.

Adolescence

Charlotte is sixteen, and her parents are getting very frustrated with her. She used to be a normal kid who listened to her parents and understood the consequences for her actions.

But lately, Charlotte has changed. She's acting out in dangerous ways, like driving too fast and dating boys that aren't the best influence on her. She argues with her parents and acts like the entire world revolves around her.

Charlotte is in adolescence, or the period between childhood and adulthood, which usually lasts from about age 13 to 20. She is going through many changes, including physical, intellectual, and emotional changes. Adolescence is a difficult time for many people, and the changes that take place can make things difficult for both the adolescent and the people close to her.

Let's look closer at one aspect of adolescence, egocentrism, and how it affects the thoughts, emotions, and behaviors of teenagers, like Charlotte.

Egocentrism

One thing that's driving Charlotte's parents crazy is that she seems to believe that the entire world revolves around her. Her ideas and opinions are the only right ones, and no one else can possibly understand things the way she does.

Psychologist David Elkind argued that adolescents go through a stage of self-absorption that leads to only being able to see the world through one's own perspective. He called this stage egocentrism.

Egocentrism can lead to many of the hallmarks that people think of as typical adolescent behavior. For example, Charlotte argues with her parents, like many teenagers. This tendency to argue comes out of egocentrism. Because Charlotte believes that her world view is the only right world view, anyone who disagrees is wrong, and that includes her parents. Thus, she argues with them (often passionately) because her egocentric view is that she is right.

Another aspect of egocentrism that many adolescents experience is that of an imaginary audience, or believing that they are the center of everyone else's attention. For example, Charlotte gets very self-conscious whenever she's around others. She believes that they are watching and judging her, even if they don't give any indication that they are. Her egocentrism has led to her having an imaginary audience.

As part of the imaginary audience, Charlotte also overanalyzes what others say and do. For example, the other day, she accidentally bumped into a cute guy in the hallway at school. She apologized, and he said, 'Don't worry about it.'

For hours afterward, Charlotte thought about what he said. Did he mean that she shouldn't worry about it because he was OK or because he was actually glad to have an excuse to talk to her? Or was he being sarcastic? Did he think she bumped into him on purpose or that she was just clumsy?

Charlotte talked over all of the possibilities with her friends, and they all obsessed over it. Because she felt like she was the center of the world (due to her egocentrism), she felt that she had an audience in the boy that she bumped into. As a result of that imaginary audience, she couldn't just have a normal encounter; she had to spend hours analyzing it and wondering what he really thought and meant.

Invincibility

Besides arguing with her parents and believing that everyone's attention is constantly on her, Charlotte has also started doing dangerous things, like driving too fast and hanging out with people who are a bad influence on her. She even got busted for shoplifting last year!

Another element of egocentrism is that of the personal fable, which is the belief that one is special and that the normal rules of life don't apply to them. Sometimes, this manifests itself when adolescents believe that no one understands them and that no one has ever experienced life the way that they do.

But another common way that the personal fable manifests in the lives of adolescents is in the belief that they are invincible. For example, Charlotte knows that driving fast can lead to car wrecks and even death, but she does it because she doesn't believe that she will die.

Likewise, she understands that shoplifters get caught, but she didn't believe that she would ever get caught. Because Charlotte believes that she's different from everyone else, she believes that she's invincible, which has led to some reckless behavior.

She's not alone. Many teenagers display reckless behavior because they believe that they are invincible. And some psychologists believe that Elkind's personal fable element isn't always outgrown after adolescence; they point to many adults who behave as though they were invincible, too!

Lesson Summary

Adolescence is the time of life between childhood and adulthood. Psychologist David Elkind discussed how people at this point of life experience egocentrism, which leads to self-consciousness due to the belief in an imaginary audience and can lead to reckless behavior due to the personal fable of invincibility.

Summary:

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